Lakeside hires Penwarden as football head coach

LAKE ELSINORE  A familiar face is taking over the reins of the Lakeside High football program.

On Monday, Lakeside announced the hire of Andy Penwarden to the head coaching position of the football team. Penwarden has served as a physical education teacher and as an assistant football coach at Lakeside since 2007.

In addition to his familiarity with the school, Penwarden brings clout to his new job. He guided San Jose Willow Glen High to league championships in 2003 and 2006 during a four-year coaching stint (2003-06) with the CIF Central Coast section school.

Penwarden directed Willow Glen to a 22-21 record and twice was honored by the section as its coach of the year within his division.

“Not only did he come with that experience, he also came with the connection with the school,” Lakeside athletic director Jeff Glenn said. “Pretty much every kid on this campus, at some point or another, cycles through his class. The kids know him, they respect them and the staff knows him and respects him. I feel like we are really lucky to have him.”

According to Glenn, the school received more than 50 applications for the opening. Penwarden was one of the seven applicants that interviewed for the position.

“There are 14 folks on the selection committee and they were in agreement that he was the best fit for our school,” Glenn said.

Penwarden assumes control of a Lakeside program still seeking its first winning season since its inception in 2005. The Lancers have gone 21-59 during that eight-year span, including a dismal 1-9 in 2012.

“It’s going to be a process,” said Penwarden, also a head coach at Arcata High in 2000. “These kids have not had much success in the past. It’s tough to work against that, that mental aspect of being down for a long time. But they are a bunch of good kids and teenagers in general are real resilient. Granted, they had a rough year last year, but if you were to look at them in the weight room and see them train, you wouldn’t know that they were 1-9. You would think they won a league championship and they are training to repeat.”

Shortly after previous coach Kitrick Taylor resigned in November, Penwarden took the initiative to give the returners some direction by organizing weightlifting sessions.

“As soon as the season was over, we got into the weight room and I started lifted them and working them,” Penwarden said. “I knew whatever happened, whether I got the job or whether I didn’t get the job, I knew I wanted these kids to be strong for next year.”

In the mid-1990s when Penwarden began his career in education, he oversaw a gang risk intervention program where he organized recreational activities such as midnight basketball for troublesome teenagers and he feels that ability to connect with youths from diverse backgrounds will serve him well in his new position.

Penwarden believes the Lancers’ lack of success over the years can be attributed to the lack of offensive production. Lakeside was outscored by a lopsided 163-463 margin last year.

Penwarden says he plans to run a multiple-set, power running game on offense with short passing mixed in. On defense, the Lancers plan to install an attacking scheme as opposed to employing a read-and-react strategy.

Penwarden was Lakeside’s defensive coordinator during the Lancers’ lone .500 season (5-5) in 2007.

Three years ago, he took on a reduced role with the program to raise a newborn son, but felt the timing was right to return to full-time status for the 2013 season.

Penwarden left Willow Glen for Lakeside in 2007 because both he and his wife hail from Southern California.

“This is my home, I am not going anywhere,” said Penwarden, a former assistant for three years at Humboldt State. “When I retire in 20 years, I am going to be in that weight room as long as I can. If they bury me underneath it, that’s OK too.”